Key takeaways:
- Ryan Salame has withdrawn his attempt to have his guilty plea vacated, but a federal judge has ordered him to show up for a hearing.
- The former FTX executive’s legal team petitioned the court on August 21 to revoke his guilty plea, claiming that the authorities had promised not to look into his partner.
Ryan Salame, the former CEO of FTX Digital Markets, has withdrawn his attempt to have his guilty plea vacated, but a federal judge has ordered him to show up for a hearing.
Judge Lewis Kaplan stated in a filing dated August 29 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York that Salame’s release on bond included an appearance in court on September 12.
He was initially supposed to report on August 29 to begin serving a 90-month sentence in prison, but after presenting medical issues resulting from a dog bite, he was given a postponement until October 13.
The former FTX executive’s legal team petitioned the court on August 21 to have his guilty plea revoked, claiming that the authorities had promised not to look into his partner, Michelle Bond.
However, Salame withdrew his petition and stated that a decision on the subject might be made in her case when prosecutors announced an indictment for Bond’s violations of campaign financing laws on August 22. Judge Kaplan stated:
“Notwithstanding purported withdrawal without prejudice of his petition for a writ of error coram nobis or alternatively a writ of audita querula, the parties shall file papers contemplated by the Court’s order of August 21, 2024 on the schedule there set forth,”
Salame has asked to withdraw the petition; the prosecution has not yet responded. They referred to his claims as “demonstrably false” in their answer to the initial file, saying that the authorities would not look into Bond.
Bond’s indictment claims that she and Salame unlawfully funded her bid for the US House of Representatives in 2022 and that they lied to a congressional committee and the Federal Election Commission to cover up their actions. The two allegedly worked with FTX to organize a $400,000 contribution to support Bond’s candidacy.
Salame entered a guilty plea in September 2023 to two felony offenses that had been brought against him by the authorities following FTX’s collapse. In a hearing on August 22, Bond entered a not-guilty plea.
Both were requested to turn in their travel documents and were set free on a $1 million bail each. The verdict on Salame’s petition may have an impact on the former leaders of FTX and Alameda Research, who are up for punishment.
After being found guilty of seven felonies, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was given a 25-year jail sentence in March. After entering guilty pleas, former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh, former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang are awaiting punishment.
